Furnaces will not turn on

[mac1983]

The other day when it was 40 below woke up at 6 am to the furnace running constantly and inside temps dropping. After inspecting the 7 year old Trane furnace could not see anything wrong, it was calling for heat, the igniter would glow and nothing, stumped. Phoned up the installation company and they tell me atcos gas line froze off. Unreal, first problem since 1974 when it was installed. I also found that i have an old regulator that needs resetting by pulling a shutoff on the regulator that trips when there is no gas pressure. It only took me to 2 pm to figure this out. The atco guy came about 5 to relight furnace, which i had already done. He said about 200 homes were down, and that the gas was off for 1 hour. Everyone should know what kind of regulator they have and have a plan in place for no gas situations. You are on your own in this situation atcos people would rather let you freeze then let you reset your regulator. Other people had to wait 12 - 16 hours to get atco to reset. One good thing they will do is a free furnace inspection, which i highly recommend. Txs Mac

[partsman]

Originally Posted by Savage Bacon

Clean the thermocouple with a piece of sand paper. Don't touch it with bare hands tho. It will leave oil deposits.

Oh boy, what a bad idea, when mine went out I think it was a power surge when power came on as I had to replace a part each time, furnace guy said good luck proving it was bc hydros fault.

[CaberTosser]

Just as one can protect their electronics with a surge arrester, one can protect a furnace, boiler or other essential equipment as well. It's probably a bigger consideration for people living rurally than city folk, but there is that whole 'ounce of prevention' philosophy.

[Fisherpeak]

Originally Posted by Norwest Alta

I'd suggest anyone with these new furnaces have a spare mother board, igniter and vacuum switch on hand. The law of Murphy says that you're furnace will eff up on a Saturday night on the coldest day of the year.

That`s why I have a wood stove secondary and 5 cord of larch.

[MK2750]

Originally Posted by mac1983

The other day when it was 40 below woke up at 6 am to the furnace running constantly and inside temps dropping. After inspecting the 7 year old Trane furnace could not see anything wrong, it was calling for heat, the igniter would glow and nothing, stumped. Phoned up the installation company and they tell me atcos gas line froze off. Unreal, first problem since 1974 when it was installed. I also found that i have an old regulator that needs resetting by pulling a shutoff on the regulator that trips when there is no gas pressure. It only took me to 2 pm to figure this out. The atco guy came about 5 to relight furnace, which i had already done. He said about 200 homes were down, and that the gas was off for 1 hour. Everyone should know what kind of regulator they have and have a plan in place for no gas situations. You are on your own in this situation atcos people would rather let you freeze then let you reset your regulator. Other people had to wait 12 - 16 hours to get atco to reset. One good thing they will do is a free furnace inspection, which i highly recommend. Txs Mac

And you most often get what you paid for.

[Norwest Alta]

Originally Posted by Fisherpeak

That`s why I have a wood stove secondary and 5 cord of larch.

Lol. I got the spare parts. Been there down that. Damn Murphy and his stupid laws.

[MyAlberta]

turn off the 120v power supply(should be local to the furnaces), give it a moment and repower.

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Just as one can protect their electronics with a surge arrester, one can protect a furnace, boiler or other essential equipment as well. It's probably a bigger consideration for people living rurally than city folk, but there is that whole 'ounce of prevention' philosophy.

What type of surge protector would you recommend ? My furnace is wired direct to breaker panel.

[Supergrit]

Originally Posted by mac1983

What type of surge protector would you recommend ? My furnace is wired direct to breaker panel.

I don’t know which one is the best but you can get your entire panel surge protected at the panel (all circuits protected).

[vinny]

Originally Posted by mac1983

The other day when it was 40 below woke up at 6 am to the furnace running constantly and inside temps dropping. After inspecting the 7 year old Trane furnace could not see anything wrong, it was calling for heat, the igniter would glow and nothing, stumped. Phoned up the installation company and they tell me atcos gas line froze off. Unreal, first problem since 1974 when it was installed. I also found that i have an old regulator that needs resetting by pulling a shutoff on the regulator that trips when there is no gas pressure. It only took me to 2 pm to figure this out. The atco guy came about 5 to relight furnace, which i had already done. He said about 200 homes were down, and that the gas was off for 1 hour. Everyone should know what kind of regulator they have and have a plan in place for no gas situations. You are on your own in this situation atcos people would rather let you freeze then let you reset your regulator. Other people had to wait 12 - 16 hours to get atco to reset. One good thing they will do is a free furnace inspection, which i highly recommend. Txs Mac

So one outage in 44 years if I’m reading that correctly? Hmm. 1 day out of over 16000. How many times has the power been out? Just askin’

[mac1983]

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...uZOHZJF4byLArP

Originally Posted by vinny

So one outage in 44 years if I’m reading that correctly? Hmm. 1 day out of over 16000. How many times has the power been out? Just askin’

No complaints about their service, rather outstanding considering the conditions. Just know your meter.

[Ken07AOVette]

Maybe you will get lucky now and win something nice

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Supergrit

I don’t know which one is the best but you can get your entire panel surge protected at the panel (all circuits protected).

I would defer this question to an electrician, I'm a plumber & gasfitter. The full panel protection would be a good option as that could possible save ones home electronics: computer, TV, etc.

[michaelmicallef]

I was at the supplier today and I saw a surge protector specifically designed to plug into a furnace control board. I forgot the name but I can find out who makes it and how much it costs. Looks simple to install. This happened to a customer who had both furnaces go down. He had about $3000 worth of parts to replace. The furnace DC motors. Not worth the energy you'll save.